This invention relates to a sheet handling apparatus.
The invention has application, for example, to a currency note stacking mechanism included in a cash dispenser unit of an automated teller machine (ATM). As is well known, in operation of an ATM, a user inserts a customer identifying card into the machine and then enters certain data (such as codes, quantity of currency required, type of transaction, etc.) upon one or more keyboards associated with the machine. The machine will then process the transaction, update the user's account to reflect the current transaction, dispense cash, when requested, from one or more currency cassettes mounted in the machine, and return the card to the user as part of a routine operation.
A cash dispenser unit of an ATM conventionally includes at least one note picking mechanism for extracting notes one by one from a currency cassette, and a stacking and presenting mechanism for accumulating the extracted notes into a stack and then feeding the stack of notes to a delivery port or exit slot in the ATM from where the stack may be removed by a user of the ATM.
A well known type of currency note stacking mechanism includes a stacking wheel which continuously rotates in operation and which incorporates a series of curved tines. Notes are fed one by one to the stacking wheel, and they successively enter between adjacent tines and are carried partly around the axis of the wheel before being stripped from the wheel and formed into a stack. This known stacking mechanism has the disadvantage that problems may arise due to the generation of static electricity.
Another known type of sheet stacking mechanism is disclosed in European Patent Application 0194139. In this known mechanism, sheets, such as currency notes, are accumulated into a stack between two endless belts. For each sheet that is added to the stack, it is necessary for each of the belts to be moved first in one direction and then in the reverse direction, and accordingly this mechanism has the disadvantage that it is slow in operation.